Make misogyny a hate crime in London

Please co-sign the letter from London Citizens to Cressida Dick, Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

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Dear Commissioner Cressida Dick,

Making misogyny a hate crime in London and across England and Wales.

We are writing to you as community leaders from London’s diverse educational, cultural and religious institutions, as well as national women’s organisations. We call on you to follow the example set by other police forces, such as the Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire police forces, and make misogyny a hate crime recorded by the Metropolitan Police.

Data shows that an overwhelming huge majority of young women (85%) and nearly half (45%) of all women have been sexually harassed in public places. Yet, only one in ten received help after these incidents.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) are meeting shortly to discuss a national roll out of this policy. We urge you to agree that all police forces in England and Wales should record misogyny as a hate crime, so that we can begin to address the underlying cause of violence against women and girls, which is endemic in our society.

I agree wholeheartedly with the contents of the letter addressed to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. If we are to have true equality between men and women, then in my respectful opinion, misogyny does need to be recorded by police and should be taken as an aggravating factor by the courts when determining sentence in relation to sexually related harassment and other sexual offences against women. For example, in the case of the act that has become known as ‘up-skirting’ a grossly indecent act and a total violation of a woman’s person, dignity and privacy is occasioned and perpetrated. What later frequently happens to these photos (publication on the internet, sending to other people via email and text), is also grossly indecent and misogynistic. Both show a total disregard for the woman in question as a person, her dignity and her human right to be treated fairly, equally and decently. Society needs to send out a message that it is not going to tolerate such behaviour and recording these behaviours and offences as misogyny, and allowing the courts to take misogyny into account when sentencing, would be an effective contribution towards affording women protection and for society to make it’s view of misogynistic behaviour very clear, in my respectful opinion.